[Distribution Hot People] Convenience Store Gold Purchase Made Super Easy... "Men in Their 40s and 50s Visit Often"

Interview with Yoon Ji-ho, GS Retail MD
1.875g Gold Continues to Sell Out Daily
High Demand from Stores Wishing to Introduce
5 Pilot Stores Operating, Plan to Expand to 100 Stores

Jiho Yoon, Product Planner, Service Planning Team, GS Retail. (Photo by GS Retail)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] "At first, we thought the main customers of convenience stores, the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), would purchase a lot, but in the case of gold products, the purchase ratio is higher among men in their 40s and 50s."

On the afternoon of the 13th, Yoon Ji-ho, a product planner (MD) of the Service Planning Team, whom we met at the GS Retail headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, said, "The 1.875g product is recording high sales volumes to the extent that it sells out daily," adding, "There are customers who come specifically to use the gold vending machines, and requests from stores wishing to introduce them are flooding in."

Currently, gold vending machines have been introduced and are being pilot-operated at five locations of GS25 and GS The Fresh. MD Yoon introduced, "The gold vending machine ‘Gukmin30Gold’ was developed by Woosoo Gold Network and is designed to sell a total of five types of gold products by weight, ranging from 1.875g to 75g. It is a third-generation model with transaction condition settings that change daily reflecting international gold prices, and purchases can be made using credit cards and various easy payment methods."

The introduction of gold vending machines was triggered by the popularity of gold products sold during the holidays. MD Yoon explained, "The existing gold product sales method operated through a catalog where customers checked products, then visited the store to prepay, and the products were delivered to the location designated by the customer. We judged that if the purchase process could be streamlined and made available for continuous sales, it would attract greater interest. Later, we learned that gold vending machines have been distributed in hotels, tourist spots, and shopping malls in several overseas countries such as the United States and Germany for over ten years."

The gold vending machines will continue to improve safety devices and refund procedures. MD Yoon said, "We plan to add dedicated closed-circuit (CC) CCTV to prepare additionally for any possible accidents," adding, "Since the vending machines are managed by the company, it is difficult to respond immediately to refund requests. We are building a process to minimize customer inconvenience."

The goal this year is to distribute gold vending machines nationwide and introduce various products. MD Yoon emphasized, "We plan to expand gold vending machines to about 100 stores in the future," and "We will also hold events to produce and sell limited quantities of commemorative coins unique to GS Retail."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.